Preacherman
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From the New Haven Register ( http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16200231&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517515&rfi=8 ):
Elm City brings in big guns to help keep USRAC from closing
Damian J. Troise and Andy Bromage, Register Staff
02/26/2006
NEW HAVEN — Inside the lobby of the U.S. Repeating Arms Co. factory here hangs a large red banner, depicting cowboys riding on horseback in full stride that reads, "Winchester: The Adventure Continues."
But that adventure, at least here in the Elm City, is set to end March 31, when the factory at 344 Winchester Ave. shuts down, taking with it 186 jobs and a 140-year American legacy.
To that end, a posse of politicians and gun industry insiders has mustered in the hope of saving "The Gun That Won The West."
Employing legal maneuvers, appeals to American pride and good old-fashioned political muscle, Connecticut’s congressional delegation and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. are pressing hard to keep the Winchester brand here.
The campaign has intensified since U.S. Repeating Arms Co. announced in January it would shutter its plant. City officials are courting local gun makers to take over the sprawling factory and stop the Belgium-based Herstal Group from outsourcing Winchester production to Japan or Portugal. The closure will stop production on Winchester Models 70, 94 and 1300, while other models will still be made overseas.
Development officials say the city has a half-dozen interested gun makers, all within 150 miles of New Haven, but declined to name them.
U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, have taken up the fight, holding closed-door meetings with USRAC managers to urge them to consider all options before closing.
"When the (congressional) delegation gets together we can occasionally make things happen," Dodd said last week, after meeting with USRAC officials.
Olin Corp. of Missouri owns the Winchester brand name and licenses the product to USRAC, a subsidiary of Herstal Group. Herstal, a Belgian company part owned by the government, also owns firearms maker Browning.
USRAC’s license expires in March 2007, or immediately if it ceases production.
Speculation has surfaced in the gun industry in recent weeks that the Belgians intentionally devalued the assets of the New Haven plant to close in order to get the Winchester license re-awarded to Browning. One gun industry executive, who spoke anonymously because he is not authorized to talk with reporters, suggested Herstal wanted to run USRAC into the ground so no company would want to set up in New Haven, and Herstal could move production overseas.
Kevin Tierney, a Guilford-based consultant hired by the city, acknowledged there is no conclusive proof to substantiate that claim, suggesting an audit far beyond the city’s means would be required to verify if it were true.
Scott Grange, a spokesman for Browning/Winchester, part of Herstal, was unavailable for comment Friday, but previously said the decision was strictly financial.
"After years of attempting to make the facility profitable, our owners have decided that’s just not going to happen," Grange said when the plant closure was announced. "The bottom line was we were losing money on every gun we built."
Tierney and others in the industry, though, said Herstal marketed the Winchester brand poorly, selling guns in Wal-Mart and using cheaper quality wood and metal plating.
"They weren’t taking advantage of the Winchester line," Tierney said. "They went for the bottom. Once you do that, it’s the kiss of death."
Not everyone agrees.
"It’s unreasonable to expect an old business model to continue forever," said Jim Shepherd, editor of The Outdoor Wire, an Internet publication covering the industry. "I have talked to people in the company and they’ve done everything they could for 10 years to avoid closing."
Manufacturing expenses and lagging sales are the culprit for the plant’s planned closure, he said.
"The plant has been on the market for a decade and nobody’s had any interest in it," he said.
Many in the industry also sensed the plant’s closure was imminent when they caught wind of the International Association of Machinists contract signed last March after tense negotiation sessions. Workers feared the company wanted to move jobs to a Browning facility in South Carolina. One of the stipulations of the contract was to postpone any decision to move jobs for one year, which would be March 2006.
Industry experts say Olin Corp., the primary seller of Winchester ammunition, is caught in a Catch 22. If the company grants the Winchester license to Browning and the rifles are made overseas, Olin risks the ire of American gun collectors and a corresponding drop in sales.
But if the license expires with no successor in sight, Olin Corp. risks a gap in Winchester production that might be enough to sink the brand, analysts suggest.
"Olin would be coming into the next hunting season without a new product on the shelves," the gun industry executive said. "Their preference is to stay in the U.S., and they’d prefer to stay in New Haven. But they will go foreign rather than have nothing at all."
Ann Pipkin, spokeswoman for Olin’s Winchester Ammunition Division, said Olin is committed to granting the Winchester license to a quality gun manufacturer, but has yet to decide who will get the license.
If all else fails, the city is prepared to file a legal action to collect on taxes the city deferred over years in efforts to keep the USRAC plant afloat, said Kelly Murphy, city development administrator. Murphy said USRAC could be liable for $750,000, plus interest, because tax breaks were conditioned on the company not relocating.
"We’re pursuing all available options," Murphy said.
Elm City brings in big guns to help keep USRAC from closing
Damian J. Troise and Andy Bromage, Register Staff
02/26/2006
NEW HAVEN — Inside the lobby of the U.S. Repeating Arms Co. factory here hangs a large red banner, depicting cowboys riding on horseback in full stride that reads, "Winchester: The Adventure Continues."
But that adventure, at least here in the Elm City, is set to end March 31, when the factory at 344 Winchester Ave. shuts down, taking with it 186 jobs and a 140-year American legacy.
To that end, a posse of politicians and gun industry insiders has mustered in the hope of saving "The Gun That Won The West."
Employing legal maneuvers, appeals to American pride and good old-fashioned political muscle, Connecticut’s congressional delegation and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. are pressing hard to keep the Winchester brand here.
The campaign has intensified since U.S. Repeating Arms Co. announced in January it would shutter its plant. City officials are courting local gun makers to take over the sprawling factory and stop the Belgium-based Herstal Group from outsourcing Winchester production to Japan or Portugal. The closure will stop production on Winchester Models 70, 94 and 1300, while other models will still be made overseas.
Development officials say the city has a half-dozen interested gun makers, all within 150 miles of New Haven, but declined to name them.
U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, have taken up the fight, holding closed-door meetings with USRAC managers to urge them to consider all options before closing.
"When the (congressional) delegation gets together we can occasionally make things happen," Dodd said last week, after meeting with USRAC officials.
Olin Corp. of Missouri owns the Winchester brand name and licenses the product to USRAC, a subsidiary of Herstal Group. Herstal, a Belgian company part owned by the government, also owns firearms maker Browning.
USRAC’s license expires in March 2007, or immediately if it ceases production.
Speculation has surfaced in the gun industry in recent weeks that the Belgians intentionally devalued the assets of the New Haven plant to close in order to get the Winchester license re-awarded to Browning. One gun industry executive, who spoke anonymously because he is not authorized to talk with reporters, suggested Herstal wanted to run USRAC into the ground so no company would want to set up in New Haven, and Herstal could move production overseas.
Kevin Tierney, a Guilford-based consultant hired by the city, acknowledged there is no conclusive proof to substantiate that claim, suggesting an audit far beyond the city’s means would be required to verify if it were true.
Scott Grange, a spokesman for Browning/Winchester, part of Herstal, was unavailable for comment Friday, but previously said the decision was strictly financial.
"After years of attempting to make the facility profitable, our owners have decided that’s just not going to happen," Grange said when the plant closure was announced. "The bottom line was we were losing money on every gun we built."
Tierney and others in the industry, though, said Herstal marketed the Winchester brand poorly, selling guns in Wal-Mart and using cheaper quality wood and metal plating.
"They weren’t taking advantage of the Winchester line," Tierney said. "They went for the bottom. Once you do that, it’s the kiss of death."
Not everyone agrees.
"It’s unreasonable to expect an old business model to continue forever," said Jim Shepherd, editor of The Outdoor Wire, an Internet publication covering the industry. "I have talked to people in the company and they’ve done everything they could for 10 years to avoid closing."
Manufacturing expenses and lagging sales are the culprit for the plant’s planned closure, he said.
"The plant has been on the market for a decade and nobody’s had any interest in it," he said.
Many in the industry also sensed the plant’s closure was imminent when they caught wind of the International Association of Machinists contract signed last March after tense negotiation sessions. Workers feared the company wanted to move jobs to a Browning facility in South Carolina. One of the stipulations of the contract was to postpone any decision to move jobs for one year, which would be March 2006.
Industry experts say Olin Corp., the primary seller of Winchester ammunition, is caught in a Catch 22. If the company grants the Winchester license to Browning and the rifles are made overseas, Olin risks the ire of American gun collectors and a corresponding drop in sales.
But if the license expires with no successor in sight, Olin Corp. risks a gap in Winchester production that might be enough to sink the brand, analysts suggest.
"Olin would be coming into the next hunting season without a new product on the shelves," the gun industry executive said. "Their preference is to stay in the U.S., and they’d prefer to stay in New Haven. But they will go foreign rather than have nothing at all."
Ann Pipkin, spokeswoman for Olin’s Winchester Ammunition Division, said Olin is committed to granting the Winchester license to a quality gun manufacturer, but has yet to decide who will get the license.
If all else fails, the city is prepared to file a legal action to collect on taxes the city deferred over years in efforts to keep the USRAC plant afloat, said Kelly Murphy, city development administrator. Murphy said USRAC could be liable for $750,000, plus interest, because tax breaks were conditioned on the company not relocating.
"We’re pursuing all available options," Murphy said.
Isn't this straight out of Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"?